S.A. activists back Voting Rights Act

Published 12:05 pm, Wednesday, February 27, 2013

As U.S. Supreme Court arguments began Wednesday over the Voting Rights Act, local experts and activists expressed hope that a key provision of the federal law would be declared constitutional.

At issue are provisions requiring Texas and other states with histories of discrimination to get Justice Department pre-clearance for election law changes.

State officials contend the restrictions in Section 5 are no longer needed, but others disagree, including the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, MALDEF and Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.

Representatives of those groups spoke out about the case involving Shelby County, Ala., at a news conference outside the federal courthouse.

Citing a Northeast Side poll incident last year, he said, “Why would you deny somebody the right to vote because they had a do-rag on their head?”

Calvert said opposition to the law by Gov. Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott “is un-American, un-Christian ... I'm sick of 'em.”

MALDEF attorney Karolina Lyznik, whose group joined several Latino organizations to file an amicus brief, defended the controversial section as still crucial.

“We are here to call on the Texas attorney general and the governor to abandon their efforts to declare Section 5 unconstitutional on behalf of the state in order to justify the further enactment of discriminatory laws and practices,” Lyznik said.

Jose Garza, lead counsel for the legislative caucus, said several courts have verified incidents of Texans' voting rights being denied, including recent redistricting.

“This was an outrageous gerrymandering in which minority communities were splintered, fractured, in order to minimize their ability to influence elections,” Garza said.